Against varsity’s pronouncement, ICPC clears embattled FIIRO DG’s PhD

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[color=var(--atc)]Against varsity’s pronouncement, ICPC clears embattled FIIRO DG’s PhD

Published December 30, 2019


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• We have yet to issue him a PhD, Benin varsity insists
  
• FIIRO Law: Only PhD holders can be senior officers
  

Samson Folarin
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission has said the acting Director General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Dr Chima Igwe, obtained a PhD certificate from the Universite D’Abomey Calavi, Benin Republic.
The spokesperson for the ICPC, Mrs Rasheedat Okoduwa, told our correspondent that the team investigating Igwe cleared him of wrongdoing.

Documents obtained by The PUNCH revealed that the ICPC had already communicated this decision to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the ministry supervising the institute.
Following the ICPC’s clearance, the ministry also wrote the governing board of FIIRO, saying Igwe had a PhD certificate.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that there might be a grand plot to cover up the fraudulent doctorate, as officers of the Benin Republic varsity told The PUNCH it never told the Nigerian authorities that Igwe graduated.

The PUNCH had in September 2019 reported that Igwe, more than 17 years after claiming to have bagged a doctorate at Universite d’Abomey-Calavi, could not produce a certificate to back his claim.
The 57-year-old was said to have been promoted several times based on a letter of attestation suggesting he attended the school.
The issue had become contentious when the tenure of the immediate past DG, Prof.Gloria Elemo, elapsed and there was the need for a new head for the institute.

The governing board shortlisted Igwe for the position because he was the most senior officer in accordance with civil service rules, until it was discovered that there was no PhD certificate in his file.
Several ultimatums given to him to go to the school and get the certificate ended without a result, as the board also discovered that the issue had become a subject of investigation by the ICPC.
The Chairman of the Governing Board, Alhaji Ibrahim Gwarzo, subsequently wrote the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, stating the failure of Igwe to produce his PhD certificate.

He sought approval for the next most senior official to head the agency in acting capacity pending the appointment of a substantive DG.
Onu, however, declined the request and insisted that Igwe be appointed the acting DG.
After weeks of waiting without any response from ICPC on the outcome of its investigation, The PUNCH correspondent visited Universite d’Abomey-Calavi in August 2019.
The Deputy Director of the Doctoral School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Prof. Valentine Wotto, who issued the attestation letter which Igwe had been parading as proof of his doctorate, told our correspondent that the acting DG did not complete his studies.

He spoke on the record in French. Wotto, however, said Igwe had contacted the school and demand that he continue his studies.
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The ICPC, while refusing to comment at the time, promised to make its findings public.
The agency’s spokeswoman, Okoduwa, later told The PUNCH that Igwe completed the doctoral programme.
“Yes, he has the certificate. It is genuine,” she told our correspondent on the telephone.

Okoduwa explained that the ICPC had a letter from the school to that effect.
The FIIRO spokesman, Chris Olumuyiwa, and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Abdulganiyu Aminu, refused to respond to enquiries from our correspondent on the clearance of Igwe.
A top official of FIIRO, who did not want to be quoted, confirmed the development, adding that the ministry had written to the agency.
“We have received a letter from the ministry that he has been cleared. That is what he (Igwe) has been looking for; to get the ICPC to give him a clean bill of health.

With this, the FIIRO board will be overruled. Igwe has been travelling to Abuja for weeks now and at a point, it was like he got a place to stay there. I don’t understand how attending a school equates to graduating from it. This man does not have a certificate and he was cleared,” the source added.
ICPC confirms non-existent certificate
Onu and ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye

Igwe has been using a letter of attestation of registration written by Wotto as proof of his graduation from Abomey Calavi, as he had no certificate from the school.

However, documents issued by the ICPC and the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology clearing Igwe said he obtained a “PhD certificate”.

The ICPC letter, dated September 11, 2019, and addressed to the Minister of Science and Technology, was titled, ‘Re: Appointment of an acting director-general, Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi with a claimed and unsubstantiated PhD certificate.’

The letter, signed by the agency’s Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, indicated that the commission in its findings discovered that “Dr Chima Igwe attended and obtained a PhD certificate from University D’Abomey Calavi Republic of Benin….”  “Consequently, allegation that he forged his PhD certificate was not substantiated as it is found that he obtained all his certificates in accordance with laid procedure,” it added.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Bitrus Nabasu, based on the ICPC letter, wrote to the chairman of the FIIRO board in a letter dated October 14, 2019.

Nabasu in the letter said despite the various “petitions, inquiries and news publications” on the controversial PhD, the ICPC had concluded that Igwe had a PhD certificate.

The cover-up

Findings by our correspondent revealed that the letter sent to Abomey-Calavi did not ask if Igwe graduated from the school.
A source said the letter only requested if Igwe attended the school and the varsity replied in the affirmative.

However, nowhere did the school state that Igwe graduate, a reason for which he had not been issued a certificate.
An official of the ICPC disclosed that the letter was actually drafted by the Ministry of Education and the anti-corruption agency was only copied.
The official asked to be given two weeks for the ICPC to re-write the letter and send to Abomey-Calavi for another reply.
Two months after, there had not been any feedback.

Workers protest certificate scandal
The documents
The PUNCH learnt that there was tension in FIIRO about two weeks ago when some workers of the institute, under the aegis of the Non-Academic Staff Union, staged a protest on the premises against Igwe and the agency management.

The workers, while demanding a review of their welfare, promotion and placement, asked the acting DG to stop damaging the reputation of the institute over his questionable doctorate claim.

They also sang solidarity songs and stood at the entrance to the DG’s office.

Several clips of the protest, obtained by our correspondent, showed the workers displaying different placards, including, ‘Certificate saga, explain,’ and ‘Issuance of pay slips to our members monthly.’

The leader of the protesters urged them not to vandalise any property, saying, “We are not destroying any property, because the property of FIIRO is our property.”

“And we are not students. Students can vandalise their property, they will leave the school after four years, but we will still be here for long time,’ a man among the protesters added.

Our correspondent learnt that the chairman of the FIIRO board, Gwarzo, later addressed the workers and called for calm.

“Igwe had been avoiding our general secretary for a long time. Every effort to see him on the certificate matter and other union issues has been abortive. We decided to stage the protest to force answers,” a source told The PUNCH.

Asked what the management said about the certificate issue, he said they were only told that Igwe had been cleared by the ministry.

FIIRO law: Only PhD holders can be chief research officers Organogram Chief Research Officer, Principal Research Officer
Information on the FIIRO website indicated that the institute was established in 1956 as a parastatal under the Ministry of Science and Technology.


It is a research agency with the core mandate of accelerating industrialisation. Aside from being under the public service, workers in research institutes across the country are governed by the scheme of service specifying methods of entry and advancement within the cadre.

According to the scheme of service document obtained by The PUNCH, no one could be appointed a Chief Research Officer without a PhD.


The rule 3.5.1 stated that a principal research Officer, HATISS II, could become a Chief Research Officer if he has obtained a relevant PhD and spent at least three years on the grade and made at least seven reputable publications with eight conference/seminar papers.


Rule 3.5.2 stated that someone could be directly appointed a Chief Research Officer if he had a PhD with at least six post-qualification cognate experience with at least eight reputable journal publications, among others.

The two higher positions that followed the Chief Research Officer – Assistant Director Research HATSS 14 and Director (Research) HATISS 15 – indicated higher number of publications with PhD as a constant.
Some workers had earlier told The PUNCH that some officers had spent many years as Principal Research Officer without becoming Chief Research Officer because they did not have a PhD.

A contemporary of Igwe, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed there was no sign that he was taking such a rigorous academic programme until he surfaced with the attestation letter in 2001 which left many dazed.

The source, who alleged that the FIIRO boss did not have a thesis yet, said he was immediately promoted above those he met in service.

It is not clear how Igwe got promoted three times with only an attestation of registration letter when, according to the Abomey-Calavi authorities, he had yet to finish the programme as of 2019.

It is also not clear how the ICPC cleared Igwe without querying why he did not have a certificate for a programme he purportedly finished 18 years ago.

Igwe has not finished, varsity insists
Prof. Joel Tossa
After getting a clue on Igwe’s impending clearance, our correspondent reached out to the Abomey Calavi varsity on September 30, 2019 to know if it had changed its stance.

The deputy director, Wotto, insisted nothing had changed. Our correspondent demanded to speak with the Director of the Postgraduate School, Prof. Joel Tossa, on the telephone and later through WhatsApp chat. Tossa, at the beginning of the conversation, mistook our correspondent for Igwe and told him he must re-register to complete his studies.

“I was saying that you have to register for one year. You have to also write your thesis. And then, we will organise the thesis defence, he stated. Our correspondent then clarified that he was not Igwe.

Excerpt of the interview, which eventually switched to French:



PUNCH:  Can you introduce yourself sir?
Director: I am Joel Tossa, the Director of the School of Postgraduate. My role includes planning thesis defence. Before the planning, I must have the report of international professors who must give their agreement for the defence to be held.

After that, I write to the Chancellor of University of Abomey-Calavi to inform him that I have all the required documents. Then he can allow the thesis defence on my request. The defence occurs after the authorisation of the chancellor.


PUNCH: I am Samson Folarin from Nigeria. I need information on the doctorate of Chima 

Igwe. I had a conversation with Wotto and he made me understand that he (Igwe) didn’t complete his studies. I asked him for your number to have more information on this issue. Chima Igwe has been lying that he has completed his studies. I want to know the truth. This is the reason for my call.

Director: Thanks! He has done his three registrations in doctoral studies. He can then have the PhD. But there is the thesis defence’s part, which must be organised and planned with foreign professors.
PUNCH: Is it because of this reason he didn’t get the certificate?


Director: Yes. The certificate is delivered only after the thesis defence. The examiners sign a document indicating that we can deliver him the certificate. I think he can regulate his situation if he submits his thesis and defends it in front of the examiners. Mrs Yayi, who was one of his supervisors, is our current Minister of Education.

PUNCH: Okay. Supposing he finishes the thesis defence in 2020, what the year will appear on his certificate?


Director: The date of the thesis defence. The defence is the final part which qualifies someone to become a PhD holder.


PUNCH: Okay. Can an attestation of registration substitute for a certificate?

Director: In the case of our university, no. On the thesis defence, there must be three reports. Two must come from our foreign colleague professors which testify to the good quality of the research work. The thesis defence is very important.

PUNCH: Thanks! I appreciate your clarification. There is an agency in Nigeria called the ICPC. I learned they had written you a letter concerning Chima Igwe. Is it true?

Director: I think so. We started speaking about the thesis defence at that moment.

PUNCH: Okay! Did you tell the agency that Chima Igwe completed his studies?
Director: We told them he had made the necessary registrations but he had not done his thesis defence.

When The PUNCH reached out to the ICPC spokeswoman, Okoduwa, to demand the actual content of the letter on which basis Igwe was cleared, she promised to get back to our correspondent.
She had yet to respond to text messages and calls from the reporter three months after.

PUNCH.

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[color=var(--atc)]Groups demand FIIRO boss suspension, Nigerians berate minister

Published January 2, 2020


The Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutions and Associated Institutions has called for the suspension of the acting Director General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Dr Chima Igwe, over the controversies surrounding his doctorate.[/color]


This is just as an anti-corruption group, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, has faulted the Ministry of Science and Technology for not taking appropriate action on the matter.


The groups’ reactions followed reports by The PUNCH on the controversial doctorate of Igwe, which he claimed he bagged from the Universite’ Abomey-Calavi, Benin Republic, in 2001.

With an attestation of registration, which he claimed was proof of his graduation; Igwe got several promotions and was recently appointed the acting director general of the agency.


However, ultimatums given to him to produce his PhD certificate ended without any result, as Igwe went further to swear to an affidavit before an Abuja High Court.


Investigations by our correspondent, however, revealed that the 57-year-old did not complete his studies as he claimed.

Officials of the university, who spoke with PUNCH Metro, denounced his claims, saying Igwe had yet to do his thesis defence, the final requirement for the attainment of a PhD.


The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, which had earlier cleared him of wrongdoing, backtracked on Tuesday, saying it had reopened investigation into the matter.


The SSAUTHRIAI Chairman, FIIRO branch, Togunde Mumeen, expressed disappointment in the ICPC for initially clearing Igwe based on the information it claimed it got from a sister agency.

Mumeen said it showed that the anti-graft agency did not conduct due diligence before clearing him.
He stated, “That action of the ICPC really generated serious agitation among members of staff of the institute and the public, because this is an issue of integrity. 

The ICPC should equally redeem its image by being thorough in its investigation, leveraging on the report of September 4, 2018, of The PUNCH, else the union will call for the investigation of the investigator.


“We want to inform the public that the union had earlier written to the institute’s board suggesting that it should commission the director of human resources to investigate the matter so as to unravel the true state of things, because the union’s image and the name of its leadership are at stake.”

The union leader said after resumption from the New Year public holiday, members of the union would review the issue and decide the next line of action.

He, however, noted that by the extant rule of the civil service, whenever an officer was under investigation, he ought to be suspended so that he would not use public funds to serve his own interest.


The Chairman, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, Olanrewaju Suraj, welcomed the decision of the ICPC to reopen investigation into the case.
He said there were established allegations of forgery, obtaining by false pretences, fraud and financial imprudence against Igwe.


Suraj stated, “The complicity of the Ministry of Science and Technology in this whole saga and the earlier letter by the ICPC suggest conspiracy. The later does confirms internal conspiracy with the affirmation of reliance on a sister agency.



“But the ICPC is now expected to independently confirm evidence published by The PUNCH on this matter. Our organisation has since submitted a petition to the ICPC and we shall follow up on this matter.”


Our correspondent was told that the Non-Academic Staff Union of FIIRO had also given Igwe an ultimatum to produce his PhD certificate.


“There will be a showdown on January 17. How can you not have a certificate for 18 years and you get continuous undeserved promotion at the detriment of others? There are many people who have been stagnated because they did not have a PhD, which is a requirement for promotion in the institute. During our recent protest, we gave him a 21-day ultimatum to come out with his certificate,” an official of the union, who did not want to be identified, said.


Nigerians on different social media platforms, who read the reports, also called for the prosecution of Igwe, and berated the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, for being silent on the matter.


On PUNCH Online, one Ikanke Frank, wrote, “The minister refused to act because Igwe is his brother. If a crook heads such a sensitive position, which good research will come out of there?”
One Eish called for the sacking of the ICPC officials complicit in the earlier clearance of Igwe.

“There is nowhere in the world that you write a report based on an unnamed sister institution’s report,” he added.




 PUNCH.